


First Husband Material

by shakespearespaz



Category: The Purge (Movies), The Purge: Election Year (2016)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Lots of it, Post-Coital, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 15:32:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7579567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shakespearespaz/pseuds/shakespearespaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a stolen afternoon together, Charlie and Leo try hard not to talk about their future. Set after Purge night but before the election.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Husband Material

“I’m not First Husband material.”

Charlie rolled over. Without her glasses, Leo was just a blurry, beige blob. Still, she could tell that he appeared to be engaged in a staring contest with the ceiling.

“I don’t think they’d call you that. You’d be First Lord or something.”

He turned to look at her. She inched closer, opting to lay her head across his bare chest, hair fanning out over the tan, toned muscle.

“And I don’t think they’d let me be in charge of your security and be involved—”

“Relax, Leo. I’m not planning on marrying you.”

Charlie gently trailed her fingers across his stomach. He quieted. They sat like that for a while, Charlie tracing intricate designs and Leo playing with the mane of blonde hair.

“I just meant that I don’t want anyone attacking you for being with me,” he clarified, “My past is less than squeaky clean.”

“They’re already attacking me. For being a woman, for being Jewish, for being single, for being anti-Purge. I’m pretty sure I heard on FOX News the other day that I was too blonde to be president.”

“Too farsighted too.”

“Thanks, Leo.”

Charlie rolled off him, propping herself up with one arm. From this position, they could make eye contact.

“Nothing you do,” she told him, “could harm more than help.”

He sunk into the bed, to her level, and mimicked her position.

“That’s very catchy, Senator, but that’s not how the world works. You’re supposed to be a leader, not a human being, with attachments and weaknesses and—”

“A sex drive?” Her eyebrow snaked up, and it took Leo a lot to stop himself from burying a hand in her messy hair and interrupting the entire conversation with a halting kiss. Instead, he reached out and pushed a strand away from her face.

“Don’t think I don’t know how downright puritanical this country is, Leo. As a woman in politics, I’m supposed to be a dutiful wife or sexless. Not unattractive, though. Then I’m not worth paying any attention to. But if my attractiveness is paired with any sort of sexuality outside of marriage, then I’m a whore.”

“Hmm,” he considered. “And me?”

“I’m not going to let them tell me what I get to do. I’ll do what I want and deal with the fallout.”

“That seems to be your _modus operandi_ , Senator.”

She smirked, before pulling him into a sitting position on the bed, and planting her warm, smirking mouth on his. Leo was a little embarrassed by how dependent he was getting on her touch, the sharp smell of her shampoo, the soft sound of her voice. Since the Purge, every minute he wasn’t near her, he grew anxious, his mind filled with terrible scenarios of what could be happening to her in his absence. He’d never asked for his emotional stability to be this tied to another person, but what scared him even more was that he really didn’t mind it.

Charlie pulled away, staring at something in the middle distance. He didn’t say anything, but kept his arms wrapped tightly around her bare torso, letting her sharp mind untangle whatever knot it had caught hold of. She looked back at him.

“You think I’m naïve, don’t you?” Concern was knotted in her brow.

“Yes.” He continued before she could respond. “But that’s part of what makes you unique, and it’s what's needed right now.” She was silent, her wide, blue eyes the only thing Leo could focus on. He couldn’t tell if he’d offended her. “This country’s jaded, Charlie. Hell, I’m jaded. But us jaded ones will keep you safe.”

She closed her eyes, her hand trailing down his arm.

“That’s sweet, Leo, but that’s not what I meant.” She took a shaky breath. Whatever it was, this had worried her, and she’d kept it bottled up. “Do you think I’ll make a good President? I don’t mean my platform, I mean day-to-day, running this entire country.”

“You won’t be alone.”

“I know, I know. But winning the election is one thing. Actually _being_ the President of the United States is in a whole other league.”

“Charlie. You’re brilliant, you know your politics, you’re a good person. You could, uh, listen to your security advisers more—” She rolled her eyes, but he had managed to wipe the furrow off her face momentarily so he took the win. “You’re going to be amazing. I guarantee that you’re more competent than, say, at least _two_ ”—a small laugh, another win _—“_ of the old, Christian guys who’ve sat in that office.”

“I bet I could guess which two you’re thinking of.”

“Oh, I’ve got my opinions.”

She was smiling now, laughing at him, distracted for the time being from the gnawing self-doubt, which was the best Leo could hope for. She rested her arms on his shoulders, linking her hands behind his head.

“ _This_ is why you’re perfectly fine First Husband material, Leo.”

“You really want to marry me?” He took a deep breath. “Well, I think it’s only fair to tell you now…I snore.”

“Now, _that_ I know. Let me think…” She stared at his shoulder. “First, if we’re living in the White House, we’re getting a dog.”

Leo made a face.

“There’s not one dog out there that you could live with?”

“Husky.”

“Looks like a wolf, acts like a dog. I like it.”

“Good for security too.”

“Okay, so we’ll pencil a husky in.”

“Charlie?”

“Yeah?”

Her cheeks were flushed, whether from laughing, from the sex, or from simply being alive, he did not know. What he did know was that in that moment he was filled with a certain elation and purpose unlike anything he’d ever experienced. If she asked him to marry her for real, right then, he couldn’t possibly say no. He’d be the first First Husband, Lord, whatever, and attend social events for her and make the stiff and formal White House accommodations his home and pass himself off as an upstanding citizen. He’d do it for her.

She wouldn’t ask though, because she wasn’t that naïve. Whatever they had, in this day and age, still belonged in the shadows, unfair as it was that cheating, murderous pigs could flaunt their mistakes in the open with little more than a light reprimand as repercussion.

“What is it, Leo?”

“Nothing."

“Well, don’t hurt yourself trying to remember.”

He ignored the jab and leaned forward to kiss her gently in response. He’d have to settle for this. Sunny, stolen afternoons in her bedroom, late nights at the office, the gentle squeeze of her hand on his arm after weeks without a moment alone together.

Maybe she’d worn off on him though. For the first time in a while, he let himself hope, hope that one day there’d be a less bloody, less hypocritical world, one that might let them enjoy their small slice of simple contentment in peace.


End file.
